Publications

December 2013 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Choosing a Charitable Giving Vehicle

By: Robert C. Pozen, Mayur Desai and Maura A. Graul

Elaine White is an accountant advising two couples, the Carsons and the Bradleys, regarding their charitable giving options and related tax strategies. The Carsons are an upper-middle class family with $295,000 in income, a moderate amount of deductions, and... View Details

Keywords: Charitable Giving; Tax Accounting; Tax Strategy; Public Charities; Foundations; Charity; Charitable Remainder Trusts; Charitable Lead Trusts; Donor-Advised Funds; Pooled Income Funds; Taxation; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

December 2008 (Revised July 2010)
Case

TravelCenters of America

By: Robin Greenwood, Daniel Jacob Goldberg and James Quinn

A New York-based hedge fund must decide whether to invest in TravelCenters of America (TA), a recent spin-off from a U.S.-based real estate investment trust. The case confronts students with the question: To what extent is this spin-off opportunity attractive from a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Investment; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Travel Industry; United States

November 2018 (Revised December 2018)
Case

CalSTRS Takes on Gun Violence

By: Vikram S Gandhi and Caitlin Reimers

In Spring of 2018, Chris Ailman, CIO of the $200 billion pension plan for California public school teachers (CalSTRS) was mandated by his board to “prioritize engagement with makers and retailers of firearms in California” following a series of gun-related tragedies in... View Details

Keywords: Pension Funds; Pension Plan; Asset Allocation; Screening; ESG; Gun Violence; Business and Government Relations; Values and Beliefs; Education Industry; California; United States

2024
Working Paper

Fire Sales of Safe Assets

By: Gabor Pinter, Emil Siriwardane and Danny Walker

We use trade-level data to study price pressure effects in the UK gilt market from September to October 2022. During this period, forced sales by liability-driven investment funds (LDIs) led to price discounts on the order of 10%, accounting for roughly half the total... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Capital Markets; United Kingdom

January 2015 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Dogs of the Dow

By: Malcolm Baker, Samuel G. Hanson and James Weber

This case describes the Dogs of the Dow investment strategy, value investing, and using dividend yields as a means to determine intrinsic value. It also describes exchange traded notes and a particular exchange traded note, known as the Dogs of the Dow, which tracks... View Details

Keywords: Dow Jones; Dow Jones Industrial Average; Exchange Traded Note; Exchange Traded Fund; Value Investing; Benjamin Graham; Investment Strategy; Dividend Yield; Intrinsic Value; Dividend Discount Model; Michael O'Higgins; Financial Instruments; Investment; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United States

2021
Working Paper

The Value of Intermediation in the Stock Market

By: Marco Di Maggio, Mark Egan and Francesco Franzoni

We estimate a structural model of broker choice to quantitatively decompose the value that institutional investors attach to broker services. Studying over 300 million institutional equity trades, we find that investors are sensitive to both explicit and implicit... View Details

Keywords: Financial Intermediation; Institutional Investors; Research Analysts; Broker Networks; Equity Trading; Institutional Investing; Financial Services Industry

SSRN

Forthcoming
Article

Arbitrage Capital of Global Banks

By: Alyssa Anderson, Wenxin Du and Bernd Schlusche

We show that the role of unsecured, short-term wholesale funding for global banks has changed significantly in the post-financial-crisis regulatory environment. Global banks mainly use such funding to finance liquid, near risk-free arbitrage positions—in particular,... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Banks and Banking; Interest Rates; Financing and Loans

Article

The Value of Intermediation in the Stock Market

By: Marco Di Maggio, Mark Egan and Francesco Franzoni

We estimate a structural model of broker choice to quantitatively decompose the value that institutional investors attach to broker services. Studying over 300 million institutional equity trades, we find that investors are sensitive to both explicit and implicit... View Details

Keywords: Financial Intermediation; Institutional Investors; Research Analysts; Broker Networks; Equity Trading; Institutional Investing

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January 2018
Supplement

Jumia Nigeria PowerPoint Supplement

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Founded in 2012, Jumia Nigeria, a startup effort by Germany-based Rocket Internet, aimed to become an African Amazon. The company entered the nascent market and immediately enjoyed an uptick in consumer spending fueled by the strength of Nigeria’s oil-based economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Marketplace; Inventory; Nigeria; Africa; Ecommerce; Funding; Business Ecosystems; Business Ecosystem; Competition; Business Model; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Logistics; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India; Nigeria; Africa

December 2013
Teaching Note

Choosing a Charitable Giving Vehicle

By: Robert C. Pozen, Mayur Desai and Maura A. Graul

Elaine White is an accountant advising two couples, the Carsons and Bradleys, regarding their charitable giving options and related tax strategies. The Carsons are an upper-middle class family with $295,000 in income, a moderate amount of deductions, and... View Details

Keywords: Charitable Giving; Tax Accounting; Tax Strategy; Charity; Charitable Lead Trusts; Charitable Remainder Trusts; Public Charities; Foundations; Donor-Advised Funds; Pooled Income Funds; Taxation; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

2021
Working Paper

Elusive Safety: The New Geography of Capital Flows and Risk

By: Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Ruth Judson and Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr

A confidential dataset with industry-level disaggregation of U.S. cross-border claims and liabilities, shows U.S. securities to be increasingly intermediated by tax-haven-financial-centers (THFC) and less regulated funds. These securities are risky, in... View Details

Keywords: Tax Havens; Financial Centers; Geography Of Flows; Profit Shifting; Tax Avoidance; Risk; Safe Assets; Hetergeneous Firms; Endogenous Entry; Endogenous Monitoring; Regulatory Arbitrage; Assets; Safety; Risk and Uncertainty; Capital; Global Range

2015
Working Paper

The Impact of Funds: An Evaluation of CDC 2004-12

By: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon, Steve Dew and Dong Ik Lee

CDC was founded in 1948 as part of the U.K. government's efforts to develop the economic resources of Britain's remaining colonies. Since then, CDC has pursued a series of strategies to "do good without losing money," as its original mission was phrased. Its approach... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Great Britain

February 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Blue Haven Initiative: The PEGAfrica Investment

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Caitlin Reimers Brumme and Amram Migdal

This case examines Blue Haven Initiative (BHI), an impact investing fund and family office, and one of its investments, PEGAfrica (PEG). BHI founder Liesel Pritzker Simmons’ motivations for using her family wealth to start a family office focused on impact investing,... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Family Office; Development; International Development; International Development Investing; Development Fund; Sustainability; Solar Energy; Solar; Pay As You Go; PAYG; MFI; Social Venture; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Economics; Development Economics; Energy; Energy Conservation; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Assets; Asset Pricing; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Venture Capital; Cash; Cash Flow; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Stock Shares; Financing and Loans; Microfinance; International Finance; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Price; Geography; Geographic Location; Emerging Markets; Ownership; Ownership Stake; Private Ownership; Social Enterprise; Value; Valuation; Value Creation; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Green Technology Industry; Africa; United States

2008
Book

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

By: Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson traces the historical evolution of the financial system, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls "Planet Finance." In doing so, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history, from the... View Details

Keywords: Financial History; Money; Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Investment; Globalization

January 2020 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Governing PG&E

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

The five commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) listened intently at a public forum in April 2019 as PG&E Corporation’s out-going chairman Richard Kelly described the company’s proposed new board. PG&E, which provided electricity and natural... View Details

July 2004 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Man Group plc

By: Andre F. Perold and Herve Duteil

In 2004, Man Group was the world's largest packager and distributor of investment vehicles tied to hedge funds. The firm had an equity market capitalization of $10 billion and funds under management of $38 billion. Man's offerings spanned a wide range of risk/reward... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Funds; Global Strategy; Distribution; Product Development; Financial Services Industry

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2012
Other Unpublished Work

What Are We Meeting For? The Consequences of Private Meetings with Investors

By: Eugene F. Soltes and David H. Solomon

Executives of publicly-traded firms spend considerable time meeting privately with investors, despite regulation restricting their ability to convey material nonpublic information. Using a set of records of all one-on-one meetings between senior management and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Investment Funds; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Management Teams; Public Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations

SSRN

February 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Winnan Metal: Fulfilling the Dream

By: William R. Kerr, Jim Sharpe and James Weber

Neil Kashyap and Neil Lombardo (HBS '08) acquired Winnan Metal, Inc., a metal fabrication shop, after raising a search fund and an 11 month search to fulfill their dreams of becoming business owners. Two weeks after they took control of the company, Winnan's largest... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Management; Turnarounds; Bank Loan; Crisis Management; Financial Analysis; Search Funds; Acquisitions; Financial Capital Needed; Management; Operations Management; Sales; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Change Management; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Indiana

August 2013
Case

Harold Mills at ZeroChaos (A)

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Maurice L. Kuykendoll II

After leading a management buy-out, Harold Mills transformed ZeroChaos into a global staffing enterprise. Poised to raise additional capital to fund the company's next phase of growth, he was also confronting the liquidity demands of his early-stage investors and... View Details

Keywords: Legal Aspects Of Business; Law; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Finance